Local Guard commander reflects on tenure
Change-of-command ceremony marks end of an era for unit
By Pat Caldwell
Argus Observer
Thursday, July 3, 2008 10:50 AM PDT
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| Capt. Eric Vandewalle (right) hands off the guidon of Ontario’s Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry to battalion commander Lt. Col. Kevin Sheehy during a change -of-command ceremony Sunday in Ontario. Vandewalle commanded Ontario’s citizen-soldier unit for the past two years. Capt. Seth Musgrove, La Grande, steps into Vandewalle’s former position. |
Ontario — Sunday was bittersweet for Capt. Eric Vandewalle.
In an official change-of command ceremony at Beck Kiwanis Park, Vandewalle turned over command of Ontario’s Oregon Army National Guard unit to La Grande’s Capt. Seth Musgrove.
“It’s extremely hard to leave the soldiers I know,” Vandewalle said.
While he admitted he wished only the best for Musgrove, Vandewalle also acknowledged he was going to miss Ontario and his fellow citizen-soldiers.
Vandewalle took command of Ontario’s citizen-soldier unit — Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry — just after the outfit returned from an 18-month-long deployment to Iraq in late winter 2006. In Iraq, Vandewalle served as a platoon leader in the unit.
While the Sunday ceremony marked a milestone for Vandewalle, the change-of-command ceremony also summoned up a decade’s worth of memories for the Guard officer.
“I’ve been doing this (Guard duty) for 13 years. It has been one of the stable things in my life. That support will be missed,” Vandewalle said.
Vandewalle stepped into command of the local Guard unit at a crucial time. Ontario’s citizen-soldier unit, along with the entire 3rd Battalion, conducted an ambitious and extensive reorganization after it returned from deployment.
While the reorganization proved to be relatively easy for Ontario’s Charlie Company, the 3rd Battalion, as a whole, expanded to include Guard units as far away as Woodburn and Redmond.
The focal point for Vandewalle and his new command after the deployment was relearning the M1A1 main battle tank.
Previously the mainstay of the 3rd Battalion, the big tanks did not go with the area Guardsmen to Iraq. Instead, the 3rd Battalion and Ontario’s unit were organized as infantry and moved around Iraq in Humvees.
The two-year learning process paid off for the Ontario Guard unit at last week’s annual training cycle south of Boise on the Orchard Training range.
There, the Ontario unit certified eight out of 10 tanks on the vaunted Table 8 gunnery qualification range. A tank crew from Ontario also garnered the battalion’s top gun score.
Vandewalle said the effort of his company at the annual training cycle demonstrated it is back on track with the M1A1.
“The proficiency level has risen to pre-deployment levels,” he said.
Saying goodbye
Even with the successful annual training exercise behind him, Vandewalle conceded he would always have strong ties to Ontario and the Ontario Guard unit.
“There are a whole group of guys I’ve been with for 13 years that are still here,” he said. The deployment, he said, only deepened the association between the members of the company.
“We’ve built a close bond that is unique,” Vandewalle said.
Filling the role of a company commander in a Guard unit can be a rewarding experience, and Vandewalle said his time with Charlie Company was special.
“I’ll miss the one-on-one time with soldiers. You know a lot of people say company command is the pinnacle of an officer’s career,” he said.
Even though Vandewalle works out of Oregon for a federal law enforcement agency, he said he does not want to leave Eastern Oregon’s Guard outfit.
“I’m planning on staying in the battalion. My goal is to transfer to the Northwest and stay in this battalion,’’ he said.
